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Glite Dictionary
🔄 To unfold 🏁 To finish playing 🪫 To run out
to play out

to play out

8 5.4
To become used up so nothing is left
  • phrasal verb
  • /pleɪ aʊt/
translation icon : agotarse
  • The mine is not played out.
  • mines played out
  • scenario has played out
  • way this played out

Examples

  • My last hit was three years ago and has played out financially.

    Blog text (34)

  • I have seen this situation played out socially too many times.

    Blog text (14)

  • Contrast that episode with the way the global warming debate has played out.

    Blog text (34)

  • They're exhausted, played out, they've spent their own money, and in many cases they haven't been reimbursed.

    Blog text (26)

  • After several days of hiking, their energy finally played out, and they decided to rest.

  • The team's resources played out quickly during the long project, leading them to seek additional funding.

  • As the day wore on, her patience played out, and she could no longer hide her frustration.

Synonyms

to run out
vsto play out
937 1.9

Use all of something so none is left

is about becoming exhausted rather than immediate complete loss
to wear out
vsto play out
19 2.7

To make a person very tired or a thing stop working by using it too much

is about something becoming exhausted not about causing physical damage
to run down
vsto play out
15 3.2

To use up batteries, money or supplies until little remains

is about being used up rather than slow gradual decline

Antonyms

to renew
175 2.8

Make a card or agreement valid again after it ends

to replenish
43 4.3

Fill something again after it has been used up

How Depleted

to run dry
10 4.2
to play out
8 5.4
to run low
31 2.5
to dwindle
72 5.1

Surface Forms

play out infinitive
played out past
played out past participle
playing out present participle
plays out third person singular

Morphology

play + out

The meaning 'to continue playing ... until it finishes' is directly derivable from combining 'play' (to take part in a game) with the particle 'out', which commonly signals completion or carrying something through to the end. This compositional phrasal-verb pattern is regular and cross-linguistically accessible, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Play out may come from a music box or toy that you play until the tune runs out and it stops, so the thing has no energy left. That's why 'played out' can mean 'used up' or 'exhausted'.